Press Cuba to keep promise to free journalists

José Luis Rodríguez
Zapatero
President of the
Government of Spain
Palacio de La Moncloa
Madrid, Spain

Via facsímile: 34-913-
900-217

Dear President Rodríguez Zapatero:

The Committee to Protect
Journalists is alarmed that the Cuban government has yet to fulfill its promise
to free all journalists imprisoned during the 2003 crackdown on dissent. We
urge your government, which was a key party to the agreement to release the
prisoners by November 2010, to hold President Raúl Castro to his word.

We are further concerned
by reports last week that imprisoned journalists Pedro Argüelles Morán and Albert
Santiago Du Bouchet Hernández have initiated a hunger strike to call attention
to their continued incarceration and that of other political prisoners.
Argüelles, 63, who has been in prison since 2003, is in poor health.

After negotiations between the Cuban government and the Catholic Church, President
Castro's administration agreed on July 7, 2010, to
release "within three to four months," all 52 prisoners who were still jailed
from the 2003 crackdown, the church said in a statement issued that day. Your
government played an important role in facilitating those talks. Spanish
Minister for Foreign Affairs Miguel Ángel Moratinos announced
the same month that "the agreement with the Cuban authorities is that all
political prisoners will be released from prison."

CPJ welcomed the
subsequent release of 17 journalists, and wishes to thank you and your
government for your sustained efforts in securing the freedom of the journalists
and in offering them safe harbor in Spain with their families.

However, with nine of the
52 political prisoners still behind bars three months after the deadline
for their release, the Cuban government has so far failed to fulfill its
commitment.

These detainees have expressed a desire to stay in Cuba upon release and have
refused immediate deportation to Spain, the reporters' families told CPJ. Exile
from the island was not stated as a condition of the Cuban government's
agreement to release political prisoners; however, CPJ research indicates that
all of 17 freed journalists were immediately flown to Spain with their families.
(At least three have since relocated, one to Chile and two to the United
States.)

In July, Moratinos announced in the Spanish parliament that Spain would
receive "free people who freely choose to come to Spain," but noted that "the
commitment we have from Raúl Castro is that [former prisoners] would be able to
return to the island." On Friday, a dissident imprisoned during the 2003
crackdown, Guido Sigler, was permitted to remain in Cuba upon his release, the
BBC reported.
While CPJ considers this a positive development, President Castro should
respect his commitment to release all political prisoners without exile as a
condition.

Those still jailed from the 2003 crackdown include three journalists: Héctor
Maseda Gutiérrez, Iván Hernández Carrillo, and Pedro Argüelles Morán, all of
whom suffer chronic health problems. CPJ has also called for the release of Albert
Santiago Du Bouchet Hernández, who was jailed in 2009 on charges of
"disrespect" and distribution of enemy propaganda. Du Bouchet Hernández, who is
serving a three-year sentence, has been subjected to beatings in prison. (Detailed
capsule reports on each
detained journalist are available on CPJ's website.)

Three months have passed
since the November deadline for Cuban authorities to free the remaining
dissidents. Without signs of an imminent release, the journalists in prison are
putting their health in jeopardy to draw attention to their plight. The
extended delay in their release not only undermines Cuba's credibility; it erodes
Spain's grounds for calling on the European Union states to normalize relations
with Cuba. CPJ urges you to press President Castro to release all jailed
journalists without further delay.